~~~~~Past Events~~~~~

2022

Keynote Address

Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Honorable Harvest


Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. She tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability.

As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.



Schedule of Events: Sustainability Day (4/22)

Schedule of Events: Green Living Fair (4/23)



2021

“Uprooting Racism, Seeding Sovereignty”

This virtual keynote featured a riveting address delivered by Soul Fire Farm’s Co-Founder and Farm Manager, Leah Penniman, and closes with a performance by world-renowned poet, Soul Fire Farm’s Program Manager, Naima Penniman. The 45 minute long HD video also highlights other members of the Soul Fire Farm team, and includes premier footage of the farm itself.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 7:00pm via Zoom

Available to rent at:  https://www.soulfirefarm.org/food-sovereignty-education/uprooting-racism/keynote/ 


2020

November

Make Election Day Sustainability Day 

The organizers of the annual North Country Sustainability Day, an event established to build a culture of sustainability across the region, urge the community to Make Election Day Sustainability Day!  Vote for the world you want - a cleaner, healthier, safer and more just future.


October

From our friends, The Talking Wings Collective

NORTH COUNTRY ART, LAND, and ENVIRONMENT SUMMIT

The Summit featured a series of outdoor exhibitions and online panel discussions. All the events were framed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the environmental racism that lay at its core. The NCALE Summit thus partnered with communities throughout the area to champion ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE and honor the CULTURAL MEMORY of the land. Throughout these vital conversations, the environmental future of the St. Lawrence Watershed was highlighted.

See the recordings, art, and more at the website. 


2019

2019 Keynote: 

Peter Menzel

"Talking Trash: Consumption and Waste Around the World"

Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio, are the internationally renowned husband-wife, photographer-writer creative team best known for their work documenting the lives of average families around the world in their books: 

Peter Menzel's talk will cover their work over the past two and half decades on consumption in general, with a special focus on food, waste, and recycling.  

Sustainability Day 2019 will also feature Menzel & D'Aluisio's photography exhibit entitled: “Talking Trash: A Week’s Recycling and Waste for 8 US families.”  The exhibit documents eight families in four US cities: NYC, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Francisco.

In addition, there is currently an exhibit of Menzel & D'Aluisio's books, assorted sustainability resources, and 36 images from Material World, Hungry Planet and What I Eat in the SUNY Potsdam Lougheed Learning Commons lobby. It will be on display through April 12th.  

Menzel is a freelance photojournalist known for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment. His award-winning photographs have been published in GEO, Stern, Le Figaro, Der Speigel, Paris Match, Focus, Muy Interesante, El Pais, National Geographic, Smithsonian, the New York Times Magazine, and Time.  He has received a number of World Press and Picture of the Year awards.  See complete bio at http://menzelphoto.com/bio/ 

2019 Schedule

11:00 Registration and Check-in Opens [Performing Arts Center Lobby]

11:15am -12:30pm: Pre-event - by invitation only - Sustainability Roundtables for Professionals Luncheon 

12:45 – 2:15: Opening, Welcome and Keynote Address [Performing Arts Center Proscenium Theater]

2:30- 3:00: Breakout Session I [Various locations]

3:15-3:45: Breakout Session II [Various locations]

4:00-4:30: Breakout Session III [Various locations]

4:30-6:00pm: Sustainability Fair, Poster Session, Exhibit Opening, and Reception [Performing Arts Center Lobby] 


2017

2017 Keynote: "The Real Human Being and Challenges to Our Survival in Today's World " by Ilarion (Larry) Merculieff

Bio - Excerpted from Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways (see full bio at http://gcill.org/larry-merculieff/) 

Larry Merculieff has almost four decades of experience serving his people, the Aleuts of the Pribilof Islands and other indigenous peoples in a number of capacities—locally, statewide, nationally and internationally. For his entire career, Merculieff has been a passionate advocate for indigenous rights/wisdom, and harmonious relationship with the Earth Mother. His reach has been broad and varied.

He has given keynote addresses at such forums as the National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting, Pan-Pacific University President’s Association, the national convention of American Indian Students in Science and Engineering, White House Conference on the Oceans, and the World Congress of Ethnobiology. He also has lectured on traditional ways of knowing and indigenous elder wisdom at such places as University of Montana, Missoula, University of Colorado, Boulder, Seattle University, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and Oregon State University. Merculieff has been featured in interviews and talks on media such as Al Jazeera, BBC, Native America Call-In and National Public Radio (NPR).

Currently, Merculieff is an independent consultant and is working on projects related to the resilience of rural Alaskan communities, assessing the academic needs of Alaska-based wildlife co-management organizations. Merculieff is also contracted by the College of the Menominee Nation to work with the Great Lakes tribes seeking to develop culturally based adaptation strategies to facing climate changes. Merculieff is working on his next book, focused on the wisdom he has learned locally, nationally and internationally from elders and others from different cultures through the lens of his life experiences. Having had a traditional upbringing, Merculieff has been, and continues to be, a strong voice advocating for the meaningful application of traditional knowledge and wisdom of indigenous elders in Alaska and throughout the world when dealing with modern day challenges.

He continues to speak and work where invited.

2017 Schedule

11:30am -12:45pm - Pre-event

1-1:45pm - Opening 

2:00-2:30pm: Breakout 1 - Workshops, panels and presentations*

2:45-3:15pm: Breakout 2 - Workshops, panels and presentations**

3:30-4:30pm: Keynote Address - - "The Real Human Being and Challenges to Our Survival in Today's World " - by Ilarion Merculieff (Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways) whose work focuses on culturally based adaptation strategies to facing climate changes. 

4:30-6:00pm: Poster Session, Sustainability Fair*** and Reception featuring local food and beverages

6:15-6:45pm - Gather and mingle along river for launch of Convergence.

7pm: -"Convergence - Collective Light on the Grasse River" - a participatory environmental art installation at dusk

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*Breakout Session 1

§  Wind Aid: Hands-on Wind Turbine Engineering Field Project in Peru - Jessica Fischer (SUNY Canton)

§  Sustainable Cultural Change: Expanding ‘Diversity’ to Include ‘Disability’ - Nadine Jennings, Michelle Currier, Veigh Mehan Lee (SUNY Canton)

§  Teaching Ecological Design w/Focus on Campus Sustainability Programming - Dina El-Mogazi (Bucknell Univ.)

§  Ultrasonic Cleaning of Instruments at the Crane School of Music - Miles DeCastro (SUNY Potsdam)

§  Readings from Blueline Literary Magazine: Writers Joined by Natural Places  - Donald McNutt (SUNY Potsdam)

§  Introduction to Laughter Yoga: Sustain yourself and improve well-being with the healing power of laughter. - Julie Rapczynski (SUNY Potsdam)

§  Pollinator Project - Local Living Venture,  Bill Romey (SUNY Potsdam), Kelly Carter (SUNY Canton)

§  Norwood Lake Invasive Watermilfoil Eradication Project. - Michael Twiss, Diana White & Jonathan Martin(Clarkson)

§  Tree Planting - Alex French (Clarkson)


**Breakout Session 2

§  Energy & Environmental Policy in Trump Era - Steve Bird (Clarkson)

§  Grasse River Water Quality Class Research Project - Adrienne Rygel (SUNY Canton)

§  Alaskan Indigenous Communities and Climate Change- Jon Rosales (SLU)

§  SUNY Canton’s ECO Composting Project - Rajiv Narula and Jessica Fischer (SUNY Canton)

§  Spoken Word - Sam Johnson (SUNY Canton)

§  Sustainable Theater Practices in Production & Curriculum Panel- Angela Sweigart-Gallagher, Daniel Gallagher, Cully Long (SLU)

§  Teaching Green – Prepping Students for LEED v4 and Envision - Erik Backus (Clarkson)

§  Application of Green & Sustainable Materials for Renewal of Built Environment - Yilei Shi (SUNY Canton)


***Poster Session & Sustainability Fair Participants

§  Apps That Can Save Money While Protecting the Environment

§  Wind Aid: Hands-on Wind Turbine Engineering Field Project in Peru

§  Sustainable Vertical Hydroponic Microgreens Farming 

§ Clarkson Adirondack Semester Integrated Research Project: A2A Wildlife Corridor  

§  SUNY Canton’s ECO Composting Project

§  SUNY Canton Pollinator Garden

§  Adopting Electronic Textbooks for Environmental and Financial Sustainability

§ St. Lawrence County Planning Office/ Environmental Management Council

§  Local Living Venture

§  Algonquin to Adirondack (A2A) Collaborative

§  Potsdam Food Co-op

§  St. Lawrence Land Trust

§  Nature up North

§  North Country Faith And Ecology Group - Spiritual Roots for a Sustainable Future 

§  NY Water Environment Association

§  Cornell Cooperative Extension

§  North Country Kitchen - sustainable eating; local/seasonal food info

§  Campus Kitchens

2016

Keynote Address

Peter Bardaglio

 Boldly Sustainable: 

Engagement in the

 Age of Climate Change



Sustainability Day Schedule- Trifold